Antigua Hosting World Bank Team

By: - May 1st, 2012

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Antigua’s Ministry of Finance is hosting a team from the World Bank this week to review the suitability of the so-called “4-3-2 Framework” for Antigua and Barbuda.

The framework, which was jointly developed by the IMF and the World Bank at the request of CARICOM, aims to present a set of solutions to address the chronic problem of high and unsustainable debt in the Caribbean region.

The “4-3-2” moniker comes from its four pillars, three instruments and two stages.

The four pillars include the enhancement of private-sector growth, improving fiscal balance, mitigating the impact of natural disasters and other external shock and restructuring debt portfolios.

The three instruments include buy-back operations, debt-debt swap and debt-equity swap, completed in two stages.

The World Bank delegation concludes its visit Wednesday.

Antigua is the second nation in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union to undergo the review, following Grenada.

The International Monetary Fund recently said Antigua was making “notable progress” in a number of areas.

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